A jealous man swung his partner around by the hair and threatened her with an axe after accusing her of adding male friends on Facebook.

Kieron Shaw was granted bail while he waited to be sentenced for that offence but he flagrantly breached his bail conditions by going back to her home and acting aggressively.

Sentencing him at Cardiff Crown Court, Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “Men who attack women are cowards and you are a coward.”

The court heard Samantha McCulloch had been in a relationship with the defendant for 10 years. They are no longer together.

Lisa McCormick, prosecuting, said the incident happened in the early hours of the morning on November 8 last year in Abercarn. She told the court: “The defendant, in a fit of jealousy, launched a prolonged assault.”

The incident began around 2.30am when Ms McCulloch was woken by the defendant standing over her in bed. Prosecutors said he was screaming insults and accusing her of adding male friends on Facebook.

The court heard Ms McCulloch told him she would leave and picked up their baby daughter and walked downstairs while trying to call her mother and sister.

Ms McCormick said Shaw told her she was not going anywhere and pushed his head into her forehead. He left briefly and returned smelling of alcohol and the complainant noticed quarter of a bottle of gin had been drunk.

The prosecutor said: “He grabbed her by the hair and swung her in the kitchen. She hit her head and fell to the floor.”

She told the court Shaw appeared with an axe and two potato peelers then swung the axe towards the sofa where Ms McCulloch was sitting with their baby.

Ms McCormick said: “He again grabbed her hair from behind and refused to let go. He grabbed her by the neck.”

The court heard the baby cried as Ms McCulloch tried to kick him away. He threatened to kick her down the concrete steps on to the street and smashed her phone “in a rage”.

Prosecutors said her mother arrived and Shaw threatened to smash her car window with the axe. Ms McCulloch ran to her mother and called 999 in a “highly distressed” state.

The complainant suffered scratches and bruises to her chest plus scratches to her neck and hand.

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Ben Waters, defending, said Shaw claimed he went to the complainant’s house because she invited him there.

He said his client had never served a prison sentence before and he hoped the judge would accept his “sorrow and remorse” as genuine.

Mr Waters said Shaw witnessed domestic violence during his own childhood, adding: “He is quite rightly ashamed and disgusted by his behaviour.”

Judge Wynn Morgan reminded defence counsel his client went to the complainant’s home in breach of his bail conditions and acted aggressively. He asked: “How does that square with the submissions you are making now?”

Mr Waters replied: “He should not have gone there. That is accepted. He does accept it was an error of judgement.”

He added: “Although there was an axe that was wielded that was not in the context of inflicting injury.”

The judge said he had been considering a suspended sentence but needed to be able to trust the defendant could comply with court orders.

He told him: “What you did by breaching your bail in such a flagrant way was to destroy any confidence the court may have had in you.”

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Judge Wynn Morgan continued: “This was a sustained attack motivated by jealousy and spite. It was a violation of the trust and security usually existing between people in an intimate family relationship.”

He said the defendant showed a “complete disregard” for court orders, adding: “The court has no alternative but to impose an immediate term of imprisonment.”

Shaw was jailed for eight months and must serve half of that in prison before he can be released on licence.

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by domestic violence, visit the Live Fear Free website website or call the helpline on 0808 80 10 800.